Loose bumper, black flag spoil strong run for Army team

NASCAR drivers visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center Sept. 21 to salute service members and their families. Several of their cars were on display, and drivers such as Joe Nemechek, driver of the Army-sponsored car, visited patients and signed autographs.

NASCAR drivers visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center Sept. 21 to salute service members and their families. Several of their cars were on display, and drivers such as Joe Nemechek, driver of the Army-sponsored car, visited patients and signed autographs.

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Army Racing Podcast (Episode 33)

In this edition of Army Racing, Joe Nemechek cracks the top 10 for the first time this season and we will update last weekends Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals... Where Tony The Sarge Schumacher broke another record.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Army News Service, Oct. 23, 2006) - Joe Nemechek's strong run in Sunday's Nextel Cup event came to a halt when he was black flagged by NASCAR on Lap 389 of 500 to repair damage to the No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet.

Nemechek, who posted a 20th-place result in the Subway 500, started Sunday's event 23rd but quickly raced his way to the front of the field.

"I thought we at least had a top-five car today," said Nemechek. "I'm pretty disappointed finishing 20th. This Army Chevrolet was dialed in - we passed a lot of cars on the race track today."

Nemechek ran as high as sixth, but with just over 100 laps remaining, NASCAR indicated that he had to come down pit road to remove a bumper cover that was loose. Because the race was under green flag conditions, Nemechek lost two laps in the process and fell to 26th place.

But Nemechek was able to use his savvy driving style to eventually work his way back on the lead lap.

"It was pretty cool to get two laps back," said Nemechek. "It still wasn't the finish we wanted but it could've been worse if we hadn't gotten back on the lead lap. It was hard to pass people there at the end and we needed some long green flag runs and couldn't get them.

"But everyone worked hard today in the pits and we had a great race car. Unfortunately things just didn't work out the way we needed them to."

The next stop for the Nextel Cup Series is Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race will be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.